


We Spend Too Much Time Together

by Elfyl



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Camp Campbell (Camp Camp), M/M, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-08-07 06:56:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16403501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfyl/pseuds/Elfyl
Summary: (For headcanon and kin reasons, Neil is trans.)Neil finds himself reuniting with an old campmate, the new kid's presence is aggravating yet nostalgic. There's some gore description and bullying so please read at your own risk I suppose.Thanks- Neil





	1. New Kid

Camp Campbell was up there for me and shitty places, I never thought I'd make it out of there with a friend like Max there. Although, Nikki felt like a sister to me, and always helped me when I felt terrible about things Max had said to hurt my feelings. But like all things good and bad, I don't have to deal with the emotional exhaustion of having friends. People make me feel weird; a swirling, bad feeling in my stomach. Although it was shit, I'm pretty glad that I was able to be seen as myself, for me. Gosh did it feel nice not being seen as something I'm not.

Once my dad and I got home to our humble abode that I spend alternating weeks at, I travelled quickly to my bedroom, taking in a whiff of the smell of hydrogen peroxide and AEKI candles. 

I then plopped down on my own, semi-comfortable bed with my _Cretaceous Park_  bedsheets neatly tucked into the sides of my bed and under the mattress. Just how I had left it. 

It felt so great to be home.

 

* * *

 

 _Camp Campbell hasn't been on my mind lately, and it's just now coming up again. I wonder why._  
I saw Nikki the other day, gosh it felt so nice being able to hug my best friend once more. We exchanged numbers and we might hang out again cause Ms.Candy moved herself and Nikki in closer proximity to where my dad and I live. 

_I'm glad I haven't seen Max, but, I hope he's doing alri-_

I then closed my diary abruptly, hearing my dad's loud knocking on the door. 

"Neil! It's six, we have to get you to school soon, I'll let ya drive the car!" my father said through my wood door. I stood up, looked down at myself, then sighed.   
"I'll be right out Dad," I replied.

I was still in my Pajamas; a big _Ratman_ t-shirt and long plaid lounge pants. I grabbed the shirt part that fell over my chest, holding it forward a little as I slumped over to my dresser.   
Taking my binder, a new pair of underwear, yellow t-shirt, jeans, and a deep red cardigan out from the dedicated drawers of their clothing type, I swiftly put them all on after undressing myself. After taking a look in the mirror and perfecting my look with my turtle shell shaped glasses, I quickly organized my backpack and made my way out the front door, locking it behind me, then scurried up to my dad's car. 

After we had our quick morning discussion on NPR's story on economic change, we had gotten to Roosevelt High, my glorious, wonderful, amazing high-school.   
_Sarcasm._ I got out of the car, waved to my dad bye, then hurried myself into the school building. Middle of the year and I'm still not used to the crowdedness of the hallways, the stench of jocks, the aroma of the strong perfume girls decide to spray in the hallways on each-other, like- seriously? what if someone has eczema or a sensitivity to strong smells? Geez, these people are so inconsiderate of others' well being.   
I then paused before going to my locker. I saw, a familiar face, but it wasn't one I would see just any day of the week; New but old; Old yet so new and weird. These thoughts made me stare at the person, and he looked over and stared back. It felt like hours, staring into his olive-green eyes. His stare gave me goosebumps, the hair on my arms started to rise as he tried to take a step forward to possibly talk to me, but I turned away and made my way to first period.

_Who was that? Oh no it- it couldn't be him..._

I walked into class, taking my seat in the front out from under the table and plopping down on that cold stool. I always sat up front for a multitude of reasons, first, I could correct substitutes on my name before they even call out the wrong one, second, I can view the board much better, and three, I get to do neat errands for the teacher when he needs me to.  
Its a nice job, being a teacher's pet.

As the class started to flood into the room, I adverted my eyes from the door. Then suddenly, a person sat next to me. I took as big of a breath as I could, then exhaled quietly. I slowly brought up my head, looking up from the desk and at the male sitting next to me.   
I stared, and he stared back. The tan skinned male smiled at me gently, taking the hair-tie out of his put up hair, letting it fall down to his shoulders. I then immediately recognized the person sitting next to me.

 

_It was Harrison._


	2. New Kid, part two

"Neil?" Harrison said to me, I guess I had been staring for a bit too long because I zoned out for a bit. I perked up, shaking my head and blinking a few times, "a-agh sorry, I just, wow..."

"Wow?" he replied, raising an eyebrow. "why do you say that...?".

His question made me shrug a little before looking down at my lap for a moment. I then looked back up, I had felt alone for years, and now, _he's_ here, someone I used to hate without any reason but the fact that we always butted heads for no reason. I didn't know what I wanted to say, and I didn't know how I felt about seeing someone from my childhood to the right of me.   
  
"I just," I then paused, gathering my thoughts for a moment before continuing my sentence, "It's great seeing you again, I'm uh... sorry about the way I acted as a kid."  
Harrison blinked. As if he wasn't expecting any sort of apology to leave my stubborn lips. Seeing his reaction made my stomach boil a little and my brain immediately shot to  _why isn't he responding to me??_  

He then answered, "thanks uh- I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have provoked you."  
My stomach soon settled, and I exhaled gently, nodding. "So, truce?" 

He nodded, "Truce.", then held his hand out for a handshake.   
I then shook my head, "I don't like touching hands, sorry."  
"Oh! okay... that's, cool."

I never liked touching, never will. The thing that bothers me the most about hands is the germs. I always let it get to my head, but I can't help it. Also, being a guy who isn't too confident in his own voice, I was able to talk smoothly. God- I haven't been good at talking ever since middle school started. That shit was terrible. Anyways, after Harrison and I continued with laughing at a few things that happened at Camp Campbell, an adult walked through the door. It was a substitute.  _My worst nightmare_. She smiled at the class, waved a bit, then set all her gear on the table. I felt a rush of anxiety go through my veins; I started fidgeting with my hands and my leg started to shake.  
  
"Good-morning Ya'll! My name is Ms.Boston and I'm your substitute teacher due to your actual teacher being out on paternal leave. He apparently just had a kid, but that doesn't mean you all will be allowed to slack off. So now, listen for your name as I call role."

She started the list, going down it, calling out each person's first and last name. Each step she got closer to my name, my wrong name, my  _dead_ name. I felt a rush of energy burst through before she could even start to say my first name.

"HERE! I'm right here-" I interrupted.

Then she paused, then raised an eyebrow. "You're... Natalie?"

I felt my heart drop and my face grow warm. "N-No my name- my name i-is Neil-"

The sub then paused, eyed me, then rolled her eyes a bit as he wrote down something, probably to signify that I was present.

God did this feel terrible. She just HAD to do that? She had to finish her sentence. I looked down at my lap once more, shaking and trying not to cry. It felt as if the whole fucking class was taking a gander at my embarrassment. Probably laughing at my pain, laughing cause I'm different. Why did I have to be born like this?

My eyes then grew hot with tears and I started to let the Watergates open up and flood the city. This felt so awful, nobody from Camp Campbell knew about this factor of my person, nobody knew about this thing that I hate so very much and that I wish I could change right now. Then I felt a comforting voice's vibrations whisper to me, "Neil? are- you alright?" Harrison asked. 

My brain had been quickly dropping me into a sea of disassociation, which this question quickly reeled me out of before I got too deep under. I blinked my new tears away until they stopped forming, sniffed, then brought up my face to light ever so slowly. 

Harrison then frowned, "Dude... do you want me to take you to the bathroom so you can wash your face?" he whispered.  
I didn't know how to respond to this act of genuine care and kindness. I took a deep breath, exhaled, then nodded. Soon after my gentle nod, Harrison held my wrist gently, stood up, then started to gesture me towards the entrance to the classroom.

"ma'm, NEIL, needs to get to the bathroom to wash HIS face off. I'm going to take him there." He said quickly before practically dragging me out the classroom before she could protest. Harrison hesitantly led me into the male bathroom, given his new presence in this school, still gently holding onto my wrist. He then dropped his hand from the light grip on my arm.   
"Take your time, I'll be in the entrance so if someone comes up... I'll make sure he leaves."

I gave Harrison a sincere look, smiling gently. "I-...Thanks Harrison."

"No problem Neil."

* * *

 

A few days had passed, then a few weeks, and Harrison and I were now friends. So I took my feelings about it out in my diary...

 _' I can't believe that I've actually_ _acquired a friend. I never thought I would, nor would I EVER think that it would be no other than **Harrison**. Its weird. Really weird.   
I never would have guessed that someone that I used to despise when I was a kid would become my one friend (although! Nikki is my friend, I see her more as a sister, but I don't get to see her too often, sadly.)_

_I didn't think Harrison was the type to stand up for others to protect them, and he's been doing that with me. He makes me feel safe and as a friend, you should make other friends feel safe........... right?? I don't know. I hope I'm a good presence around Harrison, just as good as he is to me. I would hate for my only friend to feel weirded out or awkward with my presence... I hope I'm okay I hope I'm okay aaaaaaaaaGHHGGHgh.  
_

 

_Anyways,_

_Talk to you tomorrow._

_-Neil '_

 

 


	3. The Dark Room

_“Neil! Neil!” said Harrison, walking up to me and holding out his hand. “We have to go, now.”_

_He then grabbed me by wrist, which soon started to melt down to bone, immediately once he came in contact with it. My flesh fell off like the skin was on a slide and my rotting muscle tissue was said slide. Harrison soon grabbed onto my bone, his hand stained with my crimson._  
He didn’t seem to mind that everything was falling apart. I started to sweat, which I attempted to wipe off with my sweater sleeve, only to pull my hand away and to see a bloodstain bleed through the fabric.  
My face was doing the same as my hand, I could feel it gushing blood slowly. The liquid ran down my cheeks, and dripped down my chin, in which was also falling apart.

_Harrison only stood in front of me, staring until slowly bending down, taking a large piece of my skin and attempting to put it back on._

This is when I woke up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily and checking my arm to make sure my skin didn’t actually fall off. _Damn, was that a terrible nightmare_. I thought to myself. Harrison looked weird in the dream, his skin looked like plastic and his face looked fake. Like it was a slightly cartooned version of himself; certain parts of his face being exaggerated, such as his eye color and nose size.

 

I took a deep breath, then exhaled. I had to recuperate from that dream. I hadn’t had any sort of dream like that in awhile. The last one I had that was that grotesque was when I was a camper.  
Most dreams like that were about Max though, and in it he was the one ripping off my skin. Slowly and agonizingly shoving needles and razors into my skin then dissecting my arm to get them back out. As a friend he rose me up and down, was with me one minute but then against me the next.

  

After getting dressed and ready for school, I took a look at myself in the mirror, rubbing my slightly scarred face gently.

 

“only acne scars.” I noted, before yelping to my dad that I was going to drive to school today and pick a friend up on the way. He accepted and tossed the keys to me, wishing me luck.

Then he flinched a bit, and came up behind me before I could sprint out the door.  
I could feel his grin piercing through my being.

“Who’s your friend? Is it a girl?”

“Dad-“ I then turned to face him, eyes half-lidded in annoyance.

“What’s she like? Does she do sports? Weird science activities?” He pushed the questions, trying to get to the question ‘do you now have a girlfriend?’ cause he still doesn’t get that I like boys.

“Dad. I- No- it’s my friend, Harrison. And HE’S a GUY.”  
“ah. Still wish you’d get a girlfriend, you’re such a handsome young man, you could swoon-“

I then turned away and slammed the door, hearing my dad’s laughing erupting from behind it.

I texted Harrison;

_‘Hey man! What was your address again? :-/ I lost the paper you gave me with it on it.’_

I then waited for a reply as I situated myself in the car, getting ready to set up the GPS until I got a text from Harrison saying;

_‘Nah! got a ride frm smeone else. He’s 1 of the popular kidz’_

My stomach then dropped. OH HELL NO, I swear if its who I think it fucking is I’ll hella freak. I then replied;

 

_‘K’_

I felt so salty and passive aggressive sending that. It felt nice too.

  

Once I got to school and parked my car in the Juniors’ parking lot, I went to the place where Harrison and I had been hanging out during the mornings before school started. What I saw made my stomach practically drop out of my ass; Harrison was sitting with my bully since middle school, **_Napoleon Bowen_** , a.k.a. Leo, the captain of the football team, the head of the debate club , and the head of the (unofficial) ‘Neil sucks and we should bully him’ club.

Once Harrison saw me, I tried to make a run for it but he quickly caught up to me, holding onto my arm before bringing me around a corner and looking me in the eyes.

“Neil? What’s going on?”

“Dude- hi how’s your day going?” I replied, smiling crookedly, attempting to take away my wrist from him. This felt like Déjà vu. He let go of me, then took a step back, still looking deep into my soul through my eyes.

“Great, now answer my question man, what is up? Why’d you look at Leo and I then bail?”

“It’s nothing!”

“Nothing my ass, tell me.”

I shook my head, and he then held onto my shoulder to make sure I didn’t run again. I then felt a sudden verbal burst emit from my throat.

“He bullied me-”

“What?” Harrison then paused, “but he’s nice? Nice to me at least.”  
“He’s not nice to me, never has been, but enjoy being friends with him or whatever, I’m sure you’ll fit in great with the popular folk.” I replied before nudging away his hand from my shoulder and turning away, starting to scurry all the way to the other side of the school’s campus to get to my first period class _first_.

 

* * *

 

 

I quietly worked alone in the dark room, making sure the exposure time was going to work well with printing my image. I adjusted the f-stop, and the time needed to get the print exposed for.

After exposing my image onto the print, my earbud was pulled out by someone, which made me flinch and turn around.

I could barely tell that it was Harrison, but it was him, and he reeked of weed.

 

“Harrison, what are you doing in here? You don’t have this class dude-”

 

The long haired brunette giggled, bending down a bit and getting closer, putting his hands onto the counter behind me, pushing me back into the cold fake granite that the enlarger behind me was placed upon. _I didn’t like this._ I made a squeaking sound and shook my head, patting his chest and attempting to push him away.

“Neil…”

A shiver trickled down my spine as my name left his lips. My face heated up and I gulped, adverting my face away from him and to the side, which he immediately took advantage of by pulling my collar down in a gentle manner and planting a soft kiss on the base of my neck, sucking on it a little, and pulling away completely.

 

“H-Harrison- Wh-what was that for? Are you fucking high?” I stammered, resulting in a smile from him.

“Work on your uhhhh photo thingy, I would love to hear you nerd out about the process of it.” He stated, sitting on the counter of the enlarger next to mine.

 

I blinked a few times, rubbed my neck gently, then took the paper that I had just exposed, then dipped it into the developer.  
“The silver that is enlaced into this specific type of paper reflects the opposite of what my film reflected onto it, providing me with me image in black and white with the non-negative version of my original picture…”

 

 I then explained the process, explained the science, and 'nerded out' about the evolution of photographic processes throughout history.

 

It felt nice being validated by him. It also felt nice being kissed on the neck... wow.


	4. Pizza Date

 

By the end of the school day, Harrison’s high wore off and we met up at my dad’s car. I leaned up against it to look kind of cool, but then I nearly fell off, which resulted in Harrison chuckling.  

“So uh, wait- you want a ride home?”

Harrison shrugged, “I think I’d like to go eat some pizza with you, we haven’t actually hung out anywhere but at school. We need some time to actually get to know each other. ‘Cause you know, we never really have gotten to uhm- know each other.”

I nodded, “yeah that’s actually a pretty good idea man.” I replied, smiling gently before opening the passenger’s car door. He got into the car, I shut the door, then I got into the car as well. I started up the vehicle, shifted gears, and started to drive out of the parking lot as quickly as possible before it got to crowded. I hated when traffic erected in the school parking lot, like do these kids even know how to drive? I mean, driving gets tricky for me sometimes but that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to get out of a damn parking lot efficiently. _Fools_.

“So, Neil.”

My ear’s focus then geared towards Harrison, and I hummed in response.

“You’re… _transgender_?” He asked, sounding genuinely curious about it.

I was taken aback a little. Why’d he have to ask if he already heard and saw me get dead-named by that substitute teacher a few weeks ago. I wonder why he asks about it now.

“Uh-yeah, I am. Does it bother you…?”

“No! Neil- no, of course I’m not bothered by something like that. I- I honestly would have never noticed you weren’t born male. I still don’t see you differently, even when given the information that you’re trans. I’m glad you’re able to be yourself.” Harrison replied, fiddling with his thumbs.

I was brought aback by this, and once we got to a stop light I stared at him. “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

Harrison laughed, “really? Gosh I’m sorry- maybe I should be nicer to you or something if I’m such an asshole to you so often.”

“I mean- no you’ve been nice to me for awhile. And I really appreciate it- I haven’t had a friend since- camp.” I said, my face frowning for a moment before quickly turning back into a smile.

“Same.” Said Harrison softly as he shifted to looking out the window with his arm acting as a pillow to rest his chin upon.

I bit my lip, then continued to drive to the pizza parlor. Once we got there and exited my car, I started to walk towards the entrance, and Harrison took a moment before following me towards it. Before walking in I held onto the door handle and paused, not opening the door yet.

“Hey Harrison, I have a uh… question about something.”

“Yeah? What’s up?”

“What was the reason behind giving me that hickey earlier…? What was that about? Why’d you smell like weed?”

Harrison tensed up, then adverted his eyes. “L-lets just eat some pizza, eh? I…”

I raised an eyebrow, then opened the door. “Right, I’ll be persistent through text message then, text you until you give me an answer.”

“Neil I will block you if you do that.”

“Bet.” I said, smirking.

Harrison looked me dead in the eyes and reciprocated saying “Bet.” Back to me.

After an exchange of laughter, I excused myself to the bathroom to wash my hands due to holding that dirty door open. Germs bother me.

I entered the bathroom, then washed my hands quickly before exiting. When I got out, Harrison had already ordered the pizza for us.

“Thanks man. I would have freaked out and ordered something in a really embarrassing manner.” I stated, grinning gently at Harrison. He smiled back, then led me to a semi-circle booth, and scooting into it. I slid in next to him. He sighed.

“I-“ His voice dropped to a whisper before continuing his sentence, “I know Leo is an asshole to you, but I- feel kind of guilty if I don’t hang out with him, even if I just met him a few days ago. But, to explain how you say I acted earlier, I was high- obviously- but I… I dunno how I feel about you and I really don’t know how I want to continue my relationship with you.”

I flinched, “Woah! Woah, Harrison- agh- I…”

Harrison then shrugged and shook his head. “Dude I’m sorry- I know I shouldn’t have feelings for you so quickly but its just- I haven’t had anyone around me in so so long. It’s been terrible being and feeling so alone…”

I gulped, then rubbed Harrison’s shoulder a bit to comfort him. “Hey- I understand… It’s okay to feel- however you feel- I think…” I then took my hand away from his shoulder once the pie was brought to our table on a metal pedestal. A milkshake was also slid between us with two straws pushed into the creamy, strawberry goodness that was the drink.

Harrison shyly held up his shoulders and gestured towards the drink. “Heh- I know I went a bit overboard with a milkshake added to the order but it was free with the purchase of the pizza so, here we are- with a fantastic milkshake.”

I nodded, “Nice choice of flavor too, a man after my heart I see.” I joked, nudging him a bit before taking a sip of the milkshake, then taking a slice of pizza.

As we ate together, I could see Harrison staring at me through my peripheral vision. I put my pizza down, then looked at him.   
“What is it?” I asked.

Almost immediately after I asked about what Harrison was staring at he cupped my face with one of his hands, wiped off something on my face with his thumb, then licked it off his thumb.

“You had marinara sauce on your face.” He replied, then started to eat again.

 

* * *

 

 

_…Gosh, what a gentle, caring touch given to me by Harrison- It felt so nice and soft._

I then pulled away from being sucked into writing in my diary and clutched my hair with my hand in slight distress. No? It’s too earlier to get too attached- or form feelings for a person that just came back into my life. Gosh Do I hate this feeling.

I stood up from my desk chair, turned off my desk lamp, then slumped over to my bed. I fell down into the fluffy comforter that I quickly untucked and curled myself up into. My stomach started to swirl in weird squares and spheres, making my body feel numb and weird all over.

Why did Harrison want to touch me? I’m nothing special, cool, or like- attractive. I don’t understand that olive-eyed boy’s intent and it… scares me a whole lot.

What does he want? What des he think _I_ want?

I then take a few deep breaths before humming myself to sleep.

 

_“Neil! Neil!” a voice called to me from afar, “I need you.”_

_I then stood from the floor of the science section of the school library, dropping the book from my hands as I turned to see Max, staring up at me. His emerald eyes pierced through my body, he was how my memory remembers him; as a kid._

_I then see the kid I used to know rise up, his limbs exaggerating and elongating slowly. Gradually, he started to loom over my shaken form, my shaken form that started to rot at the forearms and bleed the yolks of eggs._

_My skin started to crack like eggshells as Max’s large, skeletal, inhuman hands touched me. I started to crumble and rot in his grasp. He then grew taller, his eyes glowed brighter, and the trauma of that terrible friendship came up behind me in the form of red snakes and wringed me out like a wet rag, reducing me to only eggshells and yolk._

I shot up from my bed, drenched in sweat, panting quite heavily before rubbing my eyes and checking the time. _9:30am_ , _shit_.

_Seriously brain? You could have been better at scaring me out of my slumber at a much later time. I don’t even need to be awake._

I then crawled out of bed and started to get ready for my fun Saturday.

But, before I could even _get ready_ for my day of free time, my dad called me into the living room. _All Gods that may or may not exist, please don’t let this be about my beliefs on religio-_ My thought was soon stopped by the sight of Harrison. I paused, then blinked a few times before slouching immediately once I saw him. _I forgot to put on my damn binder, shit_. I crossed my arms to better hide my chest, anxious about him noticing.

“Neil! Hi!” Harrison said cheerily.

“Morning sleepyhead.” My dad said, smiling. “Uh so, since you have a friend here, I’m not going to force you to do anything today, I’ll just make you do chores tomorrow ‘cause that’s why you have kids, do make them do work for you.”

I stared at my Dad for a moment, then shook my head. “Dad, some kids are actually born to be slaves to their parents. It’s not something to take so lightly.”

Harrison tried to hold in a giggle and I made a shutting gesture with my hand before quickly retreating it back to my crossed arms.

“Okay Mr.Smarty-Tarty, well, kids, I’m heading off, I’ll see ya’ll later.”

My dad then exited the house, locking the door behind him.

 

Harrison turned towards me, and I turned towards him.

“uh…” I then shifted my eyes to the ground. “Want to play Monopoly? I love that game.”

“Neil we don’t have at least four players.”

“Monopolies were always played by one big money man anyways-“

“Don’t even start with your nerdy history talk I know you already know everything about everything.”

I giggled gently, then excused myself for a moment, exiting the room and going into my own to finish getting dressed. I made sure I looked nice before exiting my room, which Harrison was right in front the entrance of when I left my bedroom.

“Hi- uhm- sorry if I made you wait I-” I then was caught off guard by a kiss, a warm, passionate kiss. I wanted it, but not now. I immediately pushed Harrison away upon contact, my face heating up in embarrassment and anger.

“DUDE! YOU CAN’T JUST _KISS_ ME LIKE THAT!” I yelped, my face scrunching up before quickly cooling down, my face exfoliating the heat that had erupted in anger moments before. Harrison replied with silence however, so I bit my lip and looked down, feeling bad for yelling at him.

“agh- sorry man, I didn’t mean to be kind of harsh towards your gesture- I appreciate it but-“ I looked up at him, “I’d be much more comfortable with taking something like that slowly and with care. I enjoy having you as a friend and I- would hate for my incapability of succeeding in a successful relationship ruin the start of our friendship.”

“I get that, agh- sorry for- doing weird things I’m- quite literally thinking with my uh-“

“dick.”

“yeahhhhh…”

“gross.”

“Neil don’t call my dick gross, he’s very sensitive.”

“shut up.”


	5. Checkers

And as quick as that, I found myself pinned down onto the couch, Harrison looming over me like a predator over his prey.   


When I say quick, I really mean over an hour of time after messing around and playing checkers.

During the checkers however, the pieces weren’t the only ones making passes and moves at each other.

 

So, like a checker piece being in the hands of the other team, that’s how I was pinned down. I looked up at Harrison, a goofy smile on my face.

“Checkmate,” Harrison bellowed.

This made me feel so weird, but still- I wasn’t ready for something like _this_. So like any other sane, non-committal person, I pushed Harrison off of me with all my strength, standing over him as he laid on the ground.

“Wrong game, Harrison.”

He laughed, then sprung up, quickly attacking my sides with his fingers, making me howl in laughter.

“HArri! AHhhhH stop iit!” I wheezed, holding onto Harrison’s shirt as he tickled me.

“Whats the _Magic Word_ , Neil?”

“SCREw YouR MAGic WORD HArrI SToP TICKLIng ME!!!” I squealed, wiggling around under his grasp, barely able to breathe due to how much the other male was tickling me. I then grabbed his wrists, and stared him dead in the eye.

“Harrison, stop.” I said with a stern tone, my eyebrows furrowing in anger. I didn’t expect him to actually stop, which he did. I sighed in relief once he pulled away and stood up, holding a hand out to help me up. I grabbed it, and pulled myself up with his strong hand supporting my weight as I stood up from the position I was in on the couch.

“So you came up  with a nickname for me eh?” He smirked, nudging me with his arm a little as I gained back my posture. I shook my head, giggling a little. “Its easier to say faster, Harri, Harrison. See?” I replied, waving my hands a little as I spoke.

“so… Harrison. Why are you here?” I asked. “what made you want to come to my house?”

Harrison gulped, then sighed. “Honestly, I- seeing you, hanging out, I’m so desperate to _have something_ with someone. I-“ he started to choke up. “I can’t help but to flirt with you or- attempt to swoon you, because I just- _want you_ for some reason.”

“Harri, I- I get that.” I responded, my voice getting much calmer. “Not having friends for awhile can indeed make you attach yourself to someone, emotionally or romantically. So, I understand but- as much as I’d love to have a boyfriend, I really don’t want to date right now.” I explained, crossing my arms.

Harrison looked down, then chuckled a bit. “I also wanted to ask if you could come with me to this party… like- as friends obviously but- I don’t want to arrive to it alone.”

A one-beat chuckle erupted from the back of my throat, “Harrison, you _know_ I don’t _do_ parties. Who’s party is it?”

Harrison hummed a bit before biting his lip, “It’s Leo’s party.” He said hesitantly, also crossing his arms.

I shook my head. “No, no. Why the hell would I want to go to his party?” I asked, my voice raising a bit in anger. “Why the fuck would you want me to go with you, knowing about my relationship with him?”

Harri shrugged, averting eye contact. “I really don’t want to arrive alone Neil, I don’t want some stranger being with me, I want you.”

I took a deep breath then bit my lip.

“Neil I want you to keep an eye on me, make sure I don’t end up doing anything stupid… I trust you man, and I would trust you with myself. Even if we had just reunited after what? Like seven years?”

I couldn’t say no to the man, something in the back of my mind screamed for me to say no, to say that he would have to learn how to take care of himself, I couldn’t make myself say it. I wanted Harrison to be in the right hands, and I sure as hell knew that Leo wasn’t going to be the safest bet for him.

I smiled gently as Harrison looked at me again.

“I’ll come with.” I then dropped my smile, “But not because I want to actually go, but because I want you to be safe. But, if I can’t prevent you from something due to how out of it you are, I will have to step out of the situation. I don’t want me trying to protect you turn into you getting violent.” I explained, feeling so calm as these words practically flowed out of my mouth so effortlessly. I was stating my feelings, and they were being accepted and listened to. Which was nice for a change.

Harrison’s expression was so gentle, and it made my heart flutter; he had a crooked smile that no-joke went from cheek to cheek, his mouth is big like a frogs but damn does it form itself into a nice smile. He then asked, “Would you like to out in place any rules..?”

I blinked. “oh.”

I thought for a moment before nodding, “If you drink too much or get too high, which I should expect you not to drink or get high anyways, I am going to take you here. Unless you want to go home to your parents-”

“NO.” Harrison interrupted. “I-I mean..”

I raised an eyebrow, “huh?”

“I wouldn’t want my parents to uhm… see me like that, drunk or high. I would like to come here. I wouldn’t want to make my parents more disappointed than they already are.”

“oh.” I then nodded my head a bit before taking a deep breath and sighing. “Okay, anyways, when is the party?”

“OH! Its tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“yea!”

“oh how wonderful.”


	6. Getting Ready

"I know! I hope It's going to work out. I'll make sure we have fun Neil, I promise you." 

I didn't take Harrison's promise seriously, but it was indeed nice to have any sort of reassurance from him, even if I didn't trust it much. I gestured towards my current outfit. "Will this be fine or... will I have to change it up to please your party friends?"  
Harrison shrugged, fiddling with his hands. "UHm... maybe wear something that's a little less  _Neil_ If you catch what I'm throwing at you."

"I get it but you're going to have to help me 'cause I don't know a think about fashion when it comes to other people. I know that I always look pretty cool though, retro shirts an-"  
"Neil- You don't have to stroke your ego, I know you look cool but to others- you don't. And I'm going to help you!"

Harrison gave me that frog-mouth grin and grabbed my wrist gently, walking to my room with me. He let go once we entered, heading straight for a drawer. I gulped a little and pulled him away from it. "I'll tell you what drawers to open... alright?" I said, gently putting my hand on the drawer. I didn't want Harrison to see all my mangas and  _Video Girl Ai_  series on DVD, he would probably laugh at me or some shit. I then opened the drawer underneath, my shirt drawer. As I indicate to him through hand movement towards the dresser for him to start looking through it, I opened my closet. My closet had coats and button-down shirts neatly arranged by type and color; all my coats were arranged on the right, and all my button-downs were arranged on the left, each side going left to right, the colors started from red and ended with violet. I took out my cellular device and checked the weather. 

"Fuck. Dude it’s going to be really cold tonight."   
"How cold?"  
"7 degrees."

Harrison cocked his head quickly towards me. "Wait what?? It shouldn't be  _THAT_  cold, should it???"  
"Well! that would be about forty degrees in Fahrenheit, but I have my phone on Celsius because its more universal than Fahrenheit. Fahrenheit only applies to North Americas while Celsius is used practically worldwide."  
"Cute." Harrison muttered, smiling gently at me and going back to looking through my shirts.  
"Also! Just ask when you need to look for pants, I  _really_  don't want you to go into my underwear drawer cause like- that’s a stereotypical fan-fiction scene where party A gets embarrassed by party B cause B saw his underwear and B thinks he's going to get some anyways and-"  
"Neil I'm not going to look at your  _panties_."  
"IDONTWEARTHOSEHARRI."  
" _Boxers?_ "  
"No,"  
" _Briefs?_ "  
"Yeah-"  
"Makes sense, those are pretty comfortable."

I uncomfortably shifted, taking out a jacket that was too big for me, but was a jersey for the local soccer team. "Hey! would I be able to wear this?"  
"Aw..." Harrison giggled. "Neil that’s a bit too big for you, did you steal if from a boyfriend or something?"  
"Harrison please just answer my question and stop teasing me. It’s my Dad's old soccer jersey, that’s why it's big."  
"OH! Well I mean, that works out great. But form fitting clothes is suggested by me cause we're going to be dancing! So, I mean... I can wear it if you'd like. If you're comfortable with that."  
I blinked. "Oh- uhm... really? will this fit you?"

Harrison stood up and took the jacket from me gently, slipping it on and holding his hips with his hands after it was put on him. It fit him pretty well; it didn't look oversized like it did with mine. He looked great in it. I hummed a little. "You look nice in my jacket."

"I bet you'd look nice in my clothes too,"

My face heated up and I punched him lightly on the upper arm. "Shut up!" I then giggled, looking through more shirts and coats that I had. Sadly, most were over-sized so I didn't bother to take any more coats or shirts out. Harrison was doing the same thing, and in my peripheral I saw him take out a shirt. 

"I know it seems weird, but I feel like this black turtleneck would be really great- on- you?" Harrison said, walking up to me and putting the sweater in my hands. "I think this would be a great party shirt, and like! you'll look like some sort of poet. Oddly enough, some of Bowen's friends in more quote on quote 'preppy' groups wear shit like this. You'll fit in with them, and all the rest of us. Can you put it on?"

"You'll have to leave the room first Harrison,"

"Why?"

I took one of my hands to my face, pushing my face into it gently. 

"What? You can just take your shirt off its no big deal," Harrison then took his shirt off. "See? no big deal!" 

I stared at his bare torso; he wasn't too muscular, and his body was fairly straight looking. I then shook my head. "I uh- okay- maybe it..."   
I gulped, staring down at my chest and blinking a few times. I didn't need to be afraid, Harrison is my friend, and like- it’s not like whatever is under my shirt is bad. Honestly, I just don’t know if he'd be comfortable with my binder. Although- he's right, it isn't a big deal.

I unbuttoned down my shirt and slipped it off my shoulders, taking it and the turtleneck, and setting it aside. I looked straight forward at Harrison, and he looked straight at me. Harrison gulped, and looked down at the ground, putting his shirt back on. I slipped into the turtleneck and smiled gently at Harrison, that had made me feel a bit better about myself, he didn’t even seem grossed out! Which was great!  
I happily got a few key things I would need while out and about, such as my inhaler, key to the house, and my glasses case, all stored in a small messenger bag. I waited in the living room with Harrison, who then went to the restroom, wiping his face off as he came out.

He held out his hand to me, and I kindly shook my head to the offer. He nodded silently, something seemed a little weird until he perked up.

“OH, SHIT I ALMOST FORGOT! DUDE THERES GONNA BE A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN THERE!”

This remark made me giggle, seeing Harrison’s excitement for such a common object (usually found at Golden Corral where you could easily access one) amused me greatly.

I was actually excited to go to this, only for Harrison would I do this ever again in an eon.

**Author's Note:**

> Expect weekly updates!


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